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Routledge Revivals (1973): Language and Drama in Society
by Terence HawkesFirst published in 1973, this book is about Shakespeare, language and drama. The first part introduces some common ideas of anthropology and linguistics into an area where they serve as a base for the discussion of usually literary matters. It attempts to link language to our experience of speech — examining its range, texture, and social functions. In part two, the author argues that in Elizabethan culture there was a greater investment in the complexities and demands of speech due to the widespread illiteracy of the time. It examines eight of Shakespeare’s plays, together with one of Ben Jonson’s, in light of their concern with various aspects of the role of spoken language in society.
Routledge Revivals (1988): A Stage History and a Primary and Secondary Bibliography
by Philip C. KolinIn the twenty years that preceded the publication of this book in 1988, David Rabe was in the vanguard of playwrights who shaped American theatre. As the first full-length work on Rabe, this book laid the groundwork for later critical and biographical studies. The first part consists of an essay that covers three sections: a short biography, a summary and evaluation of his formative journalism for the New Haven Register, and a detailed and cohesive stage history of his work. The second part presents the most comprehensive and authoritative primary bibliography of Rabe to date, with the third section containing a secondary bibliography — including a section on biographical studies.
Routledge Revivals (1988): Dialectics, Poetry, Politics
by Peter BrookerFirst published in 1988, this books argues with received accounts to reclaim Brecht’s emphasis on his self-described ‘dialectical theatre’, re-examining firstly the concepts of Gestus and Verfremdung and their realisation in Brecht’s poetry in terms of his attempt to consciously apply the methods of dialectical materialism to art and cultural practice. The author also takes issue with the customary view of Brecht’s career and politics which sees him as compromising either with Communist party dogma or bourgeois aesthetics, to find developing parallels between Brecht’s political and artistic though and the critical dialectics of Marx, Lenin and Mao. This development is examined in later chapters in relation to the early and late plays, The Measures Taken and Days of the Commune as well as in relation to Brecht’s changed circumstances in the years of war-time exile and in post-war East Germany.
Routledge Revivals (1990): Studies in Language and Form
by Ralph BerryFirst published in 1978, this book represents a study of the ways in which Shakespeare exploits the possibilities of metaphor. In a series of studies ranging from the early to the mature Shakespeare, the author concentrates on metaphor as a controlling structure — the extent to which a certain metaphoric idea informs and organises the drama. These studies turn constantly to the relations between symbol and metaphor, literal and figurative, and examine key plays such as Richard III, King John, Henry V, Romeo and Juliet, Troilus and Cressida, and Coriolanus. They also provide a key to The Tempest which is analysed in terms of power and possession — the dominant motif.
Routledge Revivals (1990): The Anatomy of an Enigma
by P. E. RazzellFirst published in 1990, the aim of this book is to reveal the William Shakespeare whose life has been obscured by centuries of literary mythology. It unravels a series of strands in order to understand the man and the major influences which shaped his life and writing. The first part advances the thesis that his relationship with his father directly influenced the character of Falstaff — helping to not only explain key events in his father’s life but also critical events in his own biography. This thesis not only illuminates the Falstaff plays but also a number of other works such as Hamlet. The second part focuses on Shakespeare’s own life, and includes much original research particularly on the tradition that he was a poacher of deer, discussing the influence this incident had on his later life and writings. In addition, a sociological approach has been used which illuminates a number of key areas, including questioning the view his background was narrow and provincial — which has often been used to dispute his authorship of plays of such cosmopolitan appeal.
Routledge Revivals: An Annotated Bibliography and Commentary (Routledge Revivals)
by Philip C KolinFirst published in 1991, this book is the first annotated bibliography of feminist Shakespeare criticism from 1975 to 1988 — a period that saw a remarkable amount of ground-breaking work. While the primary focus is on feminist studies of Shakespeare, it also includes wide-ranging works on language, desire, role-playing, theatre conventions, marriage, and Elizabethan and Jacobean culture — shedding light on Shakespeare’s views on and representation of women, sex and gender. Accompanying the 439 entries are extensive, informative annotations that strive to maintain the original author’s perspective, supplying a careful and thorough account of the main points of an article.
Routledge Revivals: Arthur Miller Talks About His Work in the Company of Actors, Designers, Directors, and Writers (Routledge Revivals)
by C.W.E. BigsbyFirst published in 1990, this book presents a discussion with Arthur Miller, in conversation with Christopher Bigsby. Miller talks openly and extensively about his own life and experiences, events and environments which provide material for his plays: his New York childhood, the Depression, the McCarthy witch-hunts. He discusses in depth both the technique of his writing and the moral and political questions which his plays address, and argues passionately for the importance of maintaining respect for human values in a world where they are so frequently transgressed. Interwoven with these conversations are contributions from actors, directors, designers, reviewers, and writers who have encountered Miller over the years – whether in person or through his plays – which attest to the universal and enduring importance of his work.
Routledge Revivals: David Mamet (Routledge Revivals)
by Christopher BigsbyFirst published in 1985, C.W.E Bigsby examines the career and work of playwright David Mamet. Bigsby shows that Mamet is a fierce social critic, indicting an America corrupted at its core by myths of frontier individualism and competitive capitalism. Mamet has created plays whose bleak social vision and ironic metaphysics are redeemed, if at all, by the power of imagination. No American playwright before him has displayed the same sensitivity to language, detecting lyricism in the brutal incoherencies of every day speech and investing with meaning a contemporary aphasia. Few have offered dramatic metaphors of such startling and disturbing originality. Bigsby’s study is the first book to provide a thorough account of David Mamet’s life and career, as well as close analyses of individual plays.
Routledge Revivals: Taken from 'The Light of Asia' (Routledge Revivals)
by Edwin ArnoldFirst published in 1915, this book presents a dramatization of part ofthe author's The Light of Asia. The original text represents one of the first successful attempts to popularise Buddhism and its founder Gautama Buddha — presenting his life, teachings and philosophy in verse poetry. This adaptation dramatizes part of the The Light of Asia and includes staging instructions, properties required, illustrative drawings of suggested costumes, and incidental music composed specifically for the piece. This book will be of interest to students of Indian and Buddhist literature — and how this has interacted with the West — as well as students of drama.
Routledge Revivals: Workers' Theatre Movements in Britain and America (Routledge Revivals: History Workshop Series #5)
by Raphael Samuel Stuart Cosgrove Ewan MaccollFirst published in 1985, this book examines how workers theatre movements intended their performances to be activist — perceiving art as a weapon of struggle and enlightenment — and an emancipatory act. An introductory study relates left-wing theatre groupings to the cultural narratives of contemporary British socialism. The progress of the Workers’ Theatre Movement (1928-1935) is traced from simple realism to the most brilliant phase of its Russian and German development alongside which the parallel movements in the United States are also examined. A number of crucial texts are reprints as well as stage notes and glimpses of the dramaturgical controversies which accompanied them.
Roy Hart (Routledge Performance Practitioners)
by Bernadette Sweeney Kevin CrawfordRoy Hart’s revolutionary work on the human voice through extended vocal technique and the Wolfsohn-Hart tradition has influenced several generations of practitioners. Hart’s outstanding contribution to vocal research, practice and performance stretched over 20 years until his untimely death in 1975, and his vocal training produced performers with extraordinary and highly expressive vocal ranges. He founded a theatre company, Roy Hart Theatre, that brought his ideas to realisation in ground-breaking works. His influence, through his own use of the voice for theatre and music and its embodiment in his company, was widespread, attracting the interest of directors such as Peter Brook, Jerzy Grotowski and Jean-Louis Barrault. This book combines: a detailed biography giving the social and artistic context of Hart’s work and that of the early Roy Hart Theatre an exploration of Hart’s own writings on his work, combined with a review of articles by his wife Dorothy Hart and in-depth interviews a stylistic analysis of his key works, including The Bacchae, and, L'Economiste and Biodrame, and their critical reception pathways into some of the practical exercises devised by close collaborators of Roy Hart and practitioners of the Roy Hart Theatre Tradition. As a first step towards critical understanding, and as an initial exploration before going on to further, primary research, Routledge Performance Practitioners offer unbeatable value for today’s student.
Royal Court: International
by Elaine Aston Mark O’thomasRoyal Court: International is the first full-length study of the Royal Court Theatre's International Department. It charts the engagement of the UK's premiere theatre for new writing with an internationalist agenda and takes readers inside the process developed by the Court for the workshop projects it has undertaken in different parts of the world since the late 1990s. Covering the theatre's unique programming of international plays and seasons, it highlights new writing from different parts of the globe, including France, Spain, Germany, Russia, Eastern Europe, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, Columbia, Iran, the Near East, North Africa, Nigeria and India. First-hand accounts of the work appear in contributions from Stephen Daldry, Elyse Dodgson and Vicky Featherstone, and in interviews with Marcos Barbosa (Brazil), Anupama Chandrasekhar (India), Dominic Cooke, Sasha Dugdale, Marius von Mayenburg (Germany), Mark Ravenhill and Indhu Rubasingham.
Royal Court: International (Studies In International Performance)
by Elaine Aston Mark O’ThomasThe first ever full-length study of the Royal Court Theatre's International Department, covering the theatre's unique programming of international plays and seasons, its London-based residences for writers from overseas, and the legacies of workshops conducted in more than 30 countries.
Royal Court: International (Studies in International Performance)
by Mark O'Thomas E. AstonThe first ever full-length study of the Royal Court Theatre's International Department, covering the theatre's unique programming of international plays and seasons, its London-based residences for writers from overseas, and the legacies of workshops conducted in more than 30 countries.
Ruby's Story
by Ron OsborneDrama / Characters: 3m, 6f / June 1944. In England, Allied troops are massing for an invasion. On a small farm in Appalachia, a different kind of war is about to rage. Here, Walter and Grace share a home with four daughters: Rose, who struggles to understand why Stan - an immigrant coal miner and the love of her life - abruptly left to join the Polish Free Forces; Helga, who fears for her husband who's in the Army and - like Stan - assigned to a combat unit in England; Frieda, the family's adventure-seeking daughter, who works in a factory making uniforms and new friends, one of whom she can't bring home; and teenage Ruby who yearns to be the next Edward R. Murrow, but who must first come to grips with a family falling apart at the seams. D-Day speeds the dissolution process. But at its core is Walter's seeming allegiance to his German heritage, no matter that Helga's husband and Rose's fiancé are at war against all things German. There - through every battle - is Grace, hoping liberal doses of humor, love and understanding can restore harmony. It is adult Ruby - back for a funeral, seeking answers to questions that haunt her - who retells the family's struggle against prejudice, fear, delusion and self-loathing.
Rudali: From Fiction to Performance
by Anjum Katyal Mahasweta Devi Usha GanguliRudali means 'hired crier'. It is a Bengali short story by Mahasweta Devi. Also in this book is the Hindi play of the same name that is adapted from the short story by Usha Ganguli.
Rudens: The Rope
by David Christenson PlautusThe play Rudens provides an introduction to the world of Roman comedy from one of its best practitioners, Plautus. As with all Focus translations, the emphasis is on an inexpensive, readable edition that is close to the original, with an extensive introduction, notes and appendices.
Ruins: Classical Theater and Broken Memory (Theater: Theory/Text/Performance)
by Odai JohnsonTheorizing the effects of memory, absence, and disappearance in classical theater—the aesthetics of ruins.
Rumplestiltskin (Larson)
by Peter LarsonChildren's Musical / Flexible Cast / Unit Set / This humorous and enchanting musical brings the classic story to life with delightful songs, dancing, clever dialogue, and even some audience participation. The spirited songs by an awarding winning composer whose works have been recorded by Dionne Warwick and Bette Midler are provided with simple piano accompaniment. This musical is perfect for elementary school classes to perform or for children's theater groups, ages 6 12. Its an absolute charmer for parents or any audience. Cast size may be expanded to as many as 40 and the physical production may be simple or elaborate as conditions permit. Running time is approximately 30 minutes.
Run for Your Wife
by Ray CooneyFarce / 6m, 2f / Interior Set / This superb example of the British farce had them rolling in the aisles in London and New York. A taxi driver gets away with having two wives in different areas of London because of his irregular working schedule. Complication is piled upon complication as the cabby tries to keep his double life from exploding. For a side splitting sequel, see Caught in the Net .
Run, Hide, Fight Back
by April HenryWhen a deadly shooting breaks out in a Portland shopping mall, a diverse group of teens ends up trapped behind a store’s security shutter. To her own surprise, seventeen-year-old Miranda finds the others looking to her as their leader. But she’s hiding a big secret―and she’s not the only one. The group has only three choices: Run, hide, or fight back. The wrong decision will have fatal consequences. In her masterful style, April Henry crafts an unrelenting thriller with empowering teen heroes. For fans of the breakout YA mysteries This Is Where It Ends and One of Us Is Lying.
Runaways
by Elizabeth SwadosRunaways is a collection of songs sung by troubled children. While the subject is primarily runaway children from broken homes, Runaways also comments on the larger world in which the children live. / "Elizabeth Swados makes us eavesdrop on the sufferings of children. That sounds ominous but it isn't...The calligraphy of childhood is one of the wonders of nature even when the message it writes is heartbreaking." - The New York Times
Rune Arlidge
by Michael HealeyA family of women—the eldest incapable of keeping stories to herself, her two daughters on the verge of making life-altering decisions, a granddaughter wise beyond her years. Healey takes us on a 25-year-long trip to the family cottage. A new play by the author of The Drawer Boy.
Running Theaters, Second Edition: Best Practices for Leaders and Managers
by Duncan M. WebbAdvice Culled from Interviews with More Than One Hundred Experts in the Field In Running Theaters, management consultant and author Duncan M. Webb reveals the best practices that consistently lead to successful theater operations. Culled from surveys and interviews with theater managers and experts in crucial functional areas, this guide provides important tips for all people who work or want to work in regional, campus, and community-based theaters. Updated to reflect changes in the field, this second edition includes information on recent programming trends, marketing in the digital age, and the evolving role of theaters in economic and community development. Chapters discuss topics such as:Front- and back-of-house operationsManaging nonprofit and commercial rentersBuilding and managing a board of directorsThe financial management of theatersThe necessary skills and attributes of a successful theater managerThe unique opportunities and challenges of operating historic, outdoor, and campus-based theaters. Every theater manager needs this invaluable guide filled with the proven strategies of managers, staff, and volunteer leaders covering virtually every aspect of running a theater—from drawing audiences and fundraising to facility development and community involvement.
Running Theaters: Best Practices for Leaders and Managers
by Duncan M. WebbThe best practices that consistently lead to successful theater operation are now revealed in this comprehensive resource. Culled from surveys and interviews with theater managers and experts in crucial functional areas, this guide provides important tips for all people who work or want to work in regional, campus and community-based theaters. Proven strategies from managers, staff, and volunteer leaders cover virtually every aspect of running a theater - from audience development and fundraising to facility development and community involvement.